The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has committed that within two months, they will have a joint plan of action to deal with the incomplete project at the Ohlange Institute in Inanda. 

The Ohlange Institute, where Nelson Mandela cast his first democratic vote in 1994, was founded in 1901 by Dr John Langalibalele Dube and his wife. Despite over R33 million in investment since 2012, the site has deteriorated, with infrastructure like the amphitheatre collapsing. Crucially, planned developments—including the Tower of Hope, Interpretation Centre, Craft Centre, Sports Centre, and School of Advocacy—have failed to materialise.

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson said Monday’s visit was in response to a motion passed by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) with regards to the incompleteness of the project at the Ohlange Institute. 

“There is obviously a long and checkered history to what has taken place here, which unfortunately has the Department of Public Works through our entity, the IDT, at the centre of it, where a number of projects were supposed to have been completed. Some of them have been completed. One of the major ones, the amphitheatre, is around 94% complete and has remained that way for nearly a decade,” Macpherson said. 

He said that both his constitutional obligations to report back to the NCOP and the significance of the area, meant he needed to lead the oversight to have a better idea of what the issue is and how they can try and resolve it.

Macpherson explained that there are legal issues concerning ownership, payments, and the project’s incompleteness.

Macpherson called the situation an unacceptable example of contractors being paid without finishing work. 

He also found it “regrettable and unacceptable” that the contractor has not been held accountable.

“We really have to do better, and that’s why I also saw it is fit and proper to apologise to the Dube family for the situation that they find this monument to their grandfather and ancestor in. And to commit that within the next two months, we will have a joint plan of action to deal with this matter, but also to try and close some of the legal and technical questions that exist between the three spheres of government,” Macpherson said.  

Dr John Langalibalele Dube’s grandson, Langa Dube, said there has long been an outcry about upgrading the infrastructure.

“What is pleasing is that we’ve seen now all the principals from various government departments come and embrace this to say, how can we best correct the gaps and correct the mistakes that were committed by certain individuals,” Dube said. 

“The family is quite moved and we hope for the better,” Dube said. 

thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za

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